Apple and Intel have emerged as the first adopters of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s next-generation chip production technology ahead of its deployment as early as next year, Nikkei Asia has learned.

The development shows how TSMC continues to be vital to U.S. companies' chip ambitions, even as Washington attempts to bring more semiconductor production to American soil.

Apple and Intel are testing their chip designs with TSMC's 3-nanometer production technology, according to several sources briefed on the matter, with commercial output of such chips expected to start in the second half of next year.

Nanometer refers to the width between transistors on a chip. The smaller the number, the more advanced the chip, but also the more challenging and expensive they are to build. The most advanced chip production tech being used for consumer products today is TSMC's 5-nm technology, which is used for all iPhone 12 processor chips.

According to TSMC, 3-nm technology can increase computing performance by 10% to 15% compared with 5-nm, while reducing power consumption by 25% to 30%.

Apple's iPad will likely be the first devices powered by processors made using 3-nm technology, sources said. The next generation of iPhones, which are to roll out next year, are expected to make use of the intermediate 4-nm tech for scheduling reasons.

Intel, America's biggest chipmaker, is working with TSMC on at least two 3-nm projects to design central processing units for notebooks and data center servers in an attempt to regain market share it has lost to Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia over the past few years. Mass production of these chips is expected to begin by the end of 2022 at the earliest.

For Intel, which both designs and manufactures chips, the collaboration with TSMC is aimed at tiding the company over until it can get its own in-house production technology on track. The company has delayed the introduction of its own 7-nm production technology to around 2023, well behind Asian rivals TSMC and Samsung Electronics. The release of Intel's latest Xeon processors powered by the company's 10-nm technology has also been delayed from the end of this year to the second quarter of next year, the company said this week.